Kuwait agrees to extend term for Iraq to pay $4.6 billion in war reparations further to 2017

KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait says it has agreed to let Iraq postpone a final batch of Saddam Hussain-era war reparations it is owed until early 2017.

The official Kuwait News Agency reported Wednesday that the Gulf state agreed to give Iraq until January 2017 to pay the $4.6 billion reparations package following a request from Baghdad.

The chairman of a Kuwait body charged with dealing with claims stemming from Iraq's 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait, Khaled al-Mudhaf, told the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva that Kuwait's decision is based on its sympathy for Iraq and its understanding of the conditions in the country.